


So Until then

by JyrusQuash



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Suits (US TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Attempt at Humor, F/F, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Intense, M/M, Multi, omg what is this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-05-16 18:13:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19323451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JyrusQuash/pseuds/JyrusQuash
Summary: A-list Manhattan lawyer, Harvey Specter,  gets a reminder, from a friend, that work shouldn't be everything. Well...he gets more than a reminder. He meets 17-year-old Laura Hollis, who turns out to be the kind of reminder he needed. Follow this unlikely duo as they venture through drama, fraud and genuine useless gay energy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Listen... I know what some of you are already thinking. “How?” and “What the fuck? Why?” Well, listen pals; I have a love of law dramas (A little bit biased since I start law school this year) and a large soft spot for my favourite vampire cast (More bias, as a lesbian…a Lesbias). BUT I’m literally just using characters here. Trust me; it works out better than you’d expect (at least that’s what my girlfriend says). I promise there will be Hollstein, but not in the beginning. I have to set up all this bullshit first. Now keep an open mind, and enjoy this nonsense.   
> Our story begins in New York, with these jackasses that I love so much.
> 
> And as for my other fic, I had some issues and lost some of the new chapters to it, so I'm going over old notes and trying to retrace my steps. Thank you for your patience <3
> 
> Enjoy!

New York City, NY

Pearson Specter Litt LLP

September 20th, 2013

2:55 p.m.

“…If you say you can do it, then I expect no less. Stop giving me excuses, Kurek.” Harvey groaned as he leant back in his chair. “I have no patience for empty promises. I’m trusting you on this call.” He was in the middle of a new signing involving Titan Shield, a large digital software firm, and his client, Newnham Digital, a contracted branch of Titan.

 

Newnham was looking to hire an attorney, who was separate from Titan. In the past, claims and insurance benefits had been either denied or not offered and they were afraid that Titan was going to walk all over them. With Harvey on their side, Newnham would have independent representation that would allow them to actually contest their problems.

 

Harvey’s contact, Jason Kurek, kept insisting that he had evidence of misconduct from Titan. Jason’s firm, Heiss & Block, were a top personal injury firm and have been hot on Titan’s trail of corporate fraud and bribery for the last year. If Kurek could get Harvey to prove that Titan was a group of untrustworthy, fraudulent pagans, they would have a clear pathway to getting most of their clients a better insurance policy and job security. Harvey wants all the leverage he can get, and he wants it before the clock strikes 5 p.m.

 

“I’m not giving you excuses.” Kurek argued, his voice firmer than it was just moments ago, “I’m giving you a heads up. Titan doesn’t have many loose ends.” Harvey scoffed as his hand hovered over the ‘end call’ button on his office phone.

 

“Well neither do I.” Harvey said loudly, “5 p.m. or I’m not helping you.” Was his last reply. He sighed after a moment of silence and got up to look out of his office window. Newnham was offering quite the pretty penny for Harvey’s services, which would definitely make him feel better about the merger Mike nearly fucked up.

 

It was a Friday, cold and cloudy. Nothing seemed remotely peculiar, but this week had been kind of distracting. Donna said that calls would come through to her, from the office line, but no one ever answered on the other end. By the time Donna would get on the line, there would just be some weird breathing and then the call would just die. Harvey was used to strange occurrences, from his time as the A.D.A., but nothing would deter him from working.

 

Unfortunately, his determination to get work done does not stop people from talking to him.

 

“Hey, Mr. Bond, got a minute?” Louis said, knocking on his door. Harvey rolled his eyes.

 

“Why?”

 

“I just got hired by a pharmaceuticals manufacturer,” Louis said, trying to be nonchalant when everyone, including God, knew that he was itching to skip around the office like an elf. “AVEX…ha-HA! I’m back, baby!” Louis did an awkward fist-bump while Harvey continued to roll his eyes as he made his way back to his desk. Once he sat down, he propped open his laptop and attempted to work.

 

“So what? Come to rub it in?”

 

“Oh absolutely,” Louis said grinning, “but I came to complain, really.” He admitted, softly, “My Nazi therapist says that it would be good to talk to you, without fighting…” he paused, trying to read Harvey’s blank expression, “…occasionally.”

 

“You’re listening to your ‘Nazi’ therapist, now?” Harvey chuckled, trying to distract himself from this terrible conversation. There was a beat of silence, so Harvey was hoping that Louis had left. The blonde man’s dreams were crushed when he looked up from his laptop to still see Louis’ shifty eyes and gleaming smile. Harvey sighed and slammed his laptop shut. “Fine,” he groaned, “what are you complaining about now? Let’s get this over with.” Louis smiled right before his face contorted into disgust.

 

“So, the CEO for AVEX sent his COO to sign off on the agreement and I was like ‘fine, ok, cool!’ but whatever. The COO turns out to be…” Louis unnecessarily looked over his shoulder, to make sure no one was around. It didn’t make sense since Louis had left the door wide open. Not to mention all the doors, and front walls of every office, were glass. “his daughter. The guy made his daughter his COO! Isn’t that ridiculous?!”

 

Harvey rolled his eyes, yet again, clearly unimpressed with Louis’ gossip. “Big deal, Your Highness,” Harvey drawled, “CEO’s cut corners for family all the goddamn time. You ever hear of a monarchy? Rich people seem to like those.”

 

“I know but, more specifically, this kid was soooo annoying!” Louis argued.

 

“Just like you, right now?”

 

“Literally, every second she had an annoying question!” Louis cried out, hands flailing around, “Despite dumbing it down, multiple times, she said ‘UGH! I’m just gonna sign it and call my dad. This is boring!’ and left. If that man makes her come in, every time, I’ll just have to sign him up for a bad deal on purpose!”

 

“Yeah” Donna said, appearing behind Louis at Harvey’s doorway, “she was a real loose canon. That wasn’t sarcasm.”

 

“Where the hell did you come from?” Harvey asked before shaking his head. This was clearly a waste of his precious time. “Whatever. I have actual work to do, so if you don’t mind,” Harvey slipped out from behind his desk and grasped each of his colleagues by their shoulder. “go act out gossip girl in the hallway and not in my goddamn office!” with a forceful push, Donna and Louis found themselves in the hallway as Harvey shut the door and made his way back to his desk. Both watched as Harvey, grumpily, sat down in his chair and opened his laptop again.

 

“Christ Almighty; what’s eatin’ him?” Louis questioned, adjusting his tie.

 

Donna sighed and placed a hand on her hip. “He’s grumpy and wants to get this Newnham thing over and done with, before the day ends.” She explained as Louis just nodded along. “Seriously, ever since Jessica’s been up his ass about that near-death merger Mike had, he’s been working nonstop.” Louis scoffed at that.

 

“Mike handled that the best way he could. It’s all over now.”

 

“You try telling that to Diva McGee.” Donna replied, turning around to go back to her work. Unfortunately for her, Louis was feeling very talkative today and was hell-bent on spreading his happiness around.

 

“Instead of that, why don’t you tell me the real reason he’s been avoiding new callers?” Donna swiftly turned to face Louis. “This whole week, he hasn’t spoken to any new clients and dials his own numbers at his desk.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“He’s told you to stop answering calls for him.” Louis told her, “Why?” Donna sighed and looked around them. She wanted to make sure that no one was around.

 

“If I tell you, you can’t tell anyone.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

Donna proceeded to fill Louis in on the random caller that was giving Harvey quite the scare.

 

 

…

 

 

“You _told_ them?” Harvey asked Donna angrily, as he was now in the meeting room of the firm, surrounded by Jessica, Mike, Louis and Rachel. Donna was leaning against the doorframe of the meeting room, with her arms crossed over her chest.

 

“Technically I told Louis.” The redhead stated, “then he told Mike, ‘cause Mike always knows what’s up with you.” Harvey didn’t stop seething as he gripped the arms of the chair, that he was sitting in. regardless of his ill-mannered anger, Donna continued to explain…poorly. “It just so happened Jessica walked by, and TADA! I didn’t tell _them!_ Just Louis.”

 

Harvey had had enough of this. “You still told someone!”

 

Before Donna could plead her case any more, Jessica stepped in between them, blocking the redhead from Harvey’s view. “Your safety presides over whatever you’ve been harassing Kurek for!” she cried.

 

“It is?” Mike asked, completely surprised by Jessica’s sudden compassion. She turned to glare at the junior and he quickly avoided her gaze.

 

“Yes Mike, it is!” Jessica then continued to scold Harvey. “If this has anything to do with that old case, from the DA, that has come back to haunt you, I’m not taking any chances!”

 

“Stalking is serious, Harvey.” Rachel added, “You could get hurt. Or worse.”

 

Harvey scoffed and got up from his seat. This was a stupid intervention. “Would you all just calm down? nothing’s gonna happen!”

 

“So then, you’ll have no problem accepting new client calls from the central phone?” Louis challenged. Harvey was now face to face with Louis in an uncomfortable staring contest. Harvey was scared shitless about this whole ‘stalker’ situation, but he didn’t want this to get even more out of hand than it needed to be. He was going to deal with it in his own way.

 

Just as he was about to scold Louis’ stupid test, they heard Gretchen yelling, from the main entrance.

 

“W-what’s going on?” Mike asked, standing up and making his way to the door. The young associate pushed passed Harvey and Louis, separating them. Everyone else stared at one another but quickly decided to follow after Mike when they heard more shouting. Donna and Jessica were the first to follow after Mike, while Louis trailed behind them. Before leaving the meeting room, Harvey chanced a look at the clock which was hung above the entrance.

 

_4:25 p.m._

 

He groaned and slammed his fist against the door frame, following after his colleagues.

 

He just wanted to get his fucking work done.

 

 

…

 

 

“What on earth is going on here, Gretchen?!” Jessica huffed, marching her way over to the front desk. The woman was standing in front of a heavier set, kind of sturdy, balding man. He sported a khaki fishing vest, a red plaid shirt, dark blue jeans and some standard men’s sandals. Not the ones that were more akin to flip flops, but the ones that looked like the uglier versions of Birkenstocks.

 

The man’s back was flush against the desk, gripping the edge of the countertop and causing his knuckles to blanche. Gretchen was relentless and was dominating the entire interaction with just her voice and stance.

 

“This fool thinks he can just come up, in here, and demand things from me!” Gretchen seethed, through her teeth. The man flinched at her tone but was mainly distracted by the sheer number of people who had come to the executive assistant’s beck and call.

 

“Sir,” Jessica began, trying to diminish her tone down to a polite level, “please state the reason for your visit or I’ll be forced to ask you to leave.” At Jessica’s offer, Gretchen stepped aside, allowing the man to become face to face with her. He twiddled his thumbs, nervously, avoiding the name partner’s stare.

 

He suddenly became very aware of his actions and started to apologize. “I…I’m very sorry for disturbing your…” his sentence died on his lips as Louis, standing at a respectable distance behind Jessica, moved slightly to the right. This gave the man a direct line of focus between him and Harvey. The man visibly tensed and walked around Jessica. He never tore his eyes away from Harvey and all the blonde man could do was stare back, completely confused. He didn’t like this predatory glare, at least not from older men…or men in general.

 

“Sir?” Jessica tried again, placing a gentle hand on the man’s shoulder. Without looking at her, he aggressively shrugged her hand away and continued to eyeball Harvey.

 

“You Harvey Specter?” the man barked, eyes glistening over in anger. Harvey didn’t know who he was, but he felt that this was going to be more than a regular business retainment. Hervey just nodded.

 

“Yes.” He said, stepping out more from behind Louis. “Who’s asking?”

 

The man began to fiddle with his thumbs again, but his gaze was still as determined and undeterred as it had been mere seconds ago. “You don’t know me, and I don’t really know you either, but we have a…common contact of sorts.” Harvey tilted his head to the right, in confusion.

 

“You’re standing in front of lawyers, sir,” Mike suddenly said, “you’re going to have to be more specific.” The man chuckled and gave a soft smile to Mike, before glaring back at Harvey.

 

“You remember Carol Hollis?” the man asked, completely throwing Harvey off balance.

 

Harvey hadn’t seen, or heard from, Carol in at least a decade. Probably more than that. They had both attended Harvard, in 1995. Carol was graduating from an undergrad in kinesiology while Harvey was just starting out his academic career in law. They had a budding friendship which grew into…even more of a _budding friendship_. It was clear from the very beginning, however, that they both had sights on different people; Harvey, for Dana, and Carol, for David. Their crushes weren’t enough to make things awkward for them, so they continued to sleep with one another, play videogames, argue about the meaning of true nihilism, and just become buddies.

 

It all ended, one day, when one of them grew a pair and finally got the date they wanted.

 

 

…

 

 

 

_Cambridge, MA_

_Widener Library_

_December 10 th, 1995_

_12:04 p.m._

_Harvey found himself jogging towards the steps of the library, only to find out that he had already lost his chance. He sighed as he locked eyes with the familiar sky-blue ones that he had grown accustomed to. If they weren’t accompanied by a shit-eating grin, he’d be a little more excited._

_He paced himself down to a regular, less rushed, speed as he made his way over to his friend. She was sitting on the steps, munching on a red vine, which she offered him. He shook his head and, very ungracefully, dropped his book bag on her lap. She winced hard._

_“What a sore loser you are, Speck.” Shoving his shit onto the steps at her feet. “It’s not my fault you’re so slow. How are you gonna handle a losing case, in front of a jury?” she asked. He chuckled, sitting beside her. He grabbed the red vine and began to gnaw at it._

_Once he finished his snack, he looked back at her. “I don’t have to handle that, since I won’t ever lose.” She merely scoffed at him._

_“Tell that to yesterday’s Harvey.” She shoved him in his shoulder. “How does it feel to be bottomed out by a lady?” Harvey aggressively shushed her, placing a hand over her mouth. She licked his palm and his face contorted in disgust very quickly. “I guess that’s what it feels like…but you forgot the spanking!” she teased. Harvey swore to God that if she wasn’t totally capable of kicking his ass, he’d kick hers._

_“I told you I was ticklish in confidence, Carol!” he hissed, causing her to laugh harder. “Don’t blame me for trusting you!”_

_“Dude, I totally can.” She said, leaning on his shoulder, “Rule number one of being The Speck: trust no man.” Harvey smiled and laughed with her. Her dark brown hair, falling over her eyes was truly a sight to behold. He prayed that he could be in love with her, and she with him. But it just wasn’t going to happen. They tried to date, but besides physical attraction and banter, they felt nothing. No passion, no love. They were friends though; bold enough to be best of friends._

_“You’re not a man.” The law major stated and she just scoffed at him._

_“Don’t categorize me, nip-slip.”_

_Harvey just laughed with her as they sat on the snowy steps of the overdone library. They spoke about their day; Harvey talking about his contracts class and Carol bitching about her classmate, Deborah. Harvey enjoyed her gossip but was really curious about her area of study. He’d ask about the project she’d been working on, something about muscle relaxants (she neglected to tell him anything because “I don’t have time to explain things that a social science major could never comprehend. Muscles. Tissues. Body parts that aren’t sexual”)._

_Regardless of the insults, Harvey loved their time together. Carol was constant, never wavering, and he strived to become as disaffected as she was when it came to things that didn’t matter. She blamed her personality on her parents; her father, being a retired police officer, and her mother, being a stand-for-no-nonsense bitch. It had only been four months, but Harvey already knew that this was a friendship that he wanted to last for a lifetime._

_…_

_Cambridge, MA_

_Starbucks_

_December 10 th, 1995_

_8:35 p.m._

_Carol was sitting across from Harvey, reading one of her textbooks. Harvey sat, in silence, watching her concentrate. They had spent the better part of the afternoon, in Harvey’s dorm,_ not _studying. He was getting her back for the last time they knocked boots, but he still ended up giving in to her dominance in the end. It’s how it was and how it will always be._

_“So…David asked me out.”_

_Okay, maybe not._

_“Oh, awesome!” Harvey said, genuinely excited. Carol’s expression was a little confused, but Harvey’s smile was too bright to ruin._

_“So…” Carol began awkwardly, flipping the page she was reading, “we can’t continue with…” she began to point at her neck and Harvey slowly brought up his hand to mirror hers. He poked at where she was hinting and groaned when he felt the beginnings of a bruise._

_“You’re a horrible boyfriend.” Harvey hissed, tossing his balled-up napkin at her face. He never used to receive hickeys from women, but Carol seemed to be quite fond of giving them. “I have a presentation as a final tomorrow!” Carol just winked and gave him a kissy-face._

_“Wear a turtleneck, tutz.” She teased, “Steve Jobs pulls them off; you might be able to.” She laughed before going back to her previous point. “But yeah…it’s not right for us to do…this thing, if I’m going to –!” Harvey cut her off before she could injure herself. Carol was never good at feelings; he understood that._

_“I know.” He said, reaching over the coffee table and holding her hand. “We’ve been honest from the start. We tried to do the ‘love thing’ but it failed. We are friends, and will continue with that.” She squeezed his hand at his words, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “I’m fine and you’re finally going out with the guy you’ve been tripping over since opening week.” Harvey’s tone was excited and she felt his support._

_“Thanks, Speck.” She said, bringing his knuckles up to her lips so she could kiss them. He rolled his eyes and she just smiled. Holding his hand against her face, she closed her eyes; Harvey had never seen a more peaceful and relieved expression. “I wish we could do the ‘love thing’.” She admitted and all he could do was nod. They did love one another; but not in the way they wanted._

_“For the record,” he began with a teasing smile, “you were the best boyfriend I’ve ever had.” A loud round of laughter erupted from somewhere, in her gut. The two Harvard students laughed like maniacs, in an overcrowded Starbucks. Just the way it was and the way it always will be._

_Carol winked at him, kissing his knuckles one last time. “And you will always be my pillow princess, tutz.”_

 

 

…

 

 

New York City, NY

Pearson Specter Litt LLP

September 20th, 2013

4:36 p.m.

 

Carol.

 

_Carol Hollis._

 

Hearing her name, after all these years, was like someone telling you that they had also seen the ghost who had been haunting your house. It had been so long that Harvey never thought he’d hear of her again. It brought a sliver of hope into his chest.

 

Unfortunately, that sliver of hope would only last about four seconds.

 

“Well,” the man began, “long story short; Carol’s dead.”

 

Everyone looked towards Harvey, confused as to what this news had to do with him. Harvey was wondering the same thing. They hadn’t spoken in years; why was he here? Nevertheless, the lawyer felt his heart constrict.

 

Carol was dead.

 

“C-Carol’s…” Harvey’s eyes glazed over, his hands bunched into fists, “…she’s dead?” noticing his discomfort, the gruff man’s face softened. Harvey watched him lick his lips and gulp a little.

 

“Carol’s dead.” The man repeated. As he spoke, his voice grew increasingly tense. “Carol’s dead, and I think you’re my granddaughter’s father.”

 

 

…

 

The room hadn’t stopped spinning for Harvey.

 

Jessica had dismissed the spectators that gathered around the front desk and took Harvey, Carol’s father, Louis and Donna into her office. The name partners, and the executive assistant, were listening to the man’s accusation of Harvey being the real father of his 17-year-old granddaughter. None of them could believe it. Sure, Harvey was a womanizer and went through lovers like a speedboat but they liked to believe – wanted to believe – that he was smarter than knocking up someone in college.

 

However, Sherman Hollis had a pretty strong case against Harvey and the other legal entities in the room were invested.

 

He said that his son-in-law, David Branis, was showing signs of developing liver failure. Catching it before it could blossom, the doctors had been able to treat it. Since Sherman’s granddaughter, Laura, would eventually be 18, the doctors wanted to test her. They wanted to make sure that she would be a strong candidate should David actually need organ transplant. Lo and behold, Laura was not a match because she was not even David’s to begin with.

 

Alas, David decided that he was no longer going to help Laura, since she wasn’t his. In the midst of being disowned by her fake father, Laura went around and desperately tried to figure out who her real one was. Sherman noted that she had already started looking at university programs, so not having David supporting her was going to be an incredible battle. She wanted – needed – answers and she was going to get them.

 

Sherman spoke about coming home to find Laura in the attic, fumbling through her mother’s old trunk. There he said she had found a diary. The book contained multiple entries about a friend named ‘Harvey S.’ who was an upper year, attending law school. There was nothing explicit in the entries about him, but there was a page, near the very end of the book that was written when Laura was about the age of five.

 

Sherman reached into one of the pockets in his fishing vest and pulled out a Ziploc bag with some lined paper in it. He opened it up and laid it on the table for the others to read for themselves.

 

_October 3 rd, 2001 – She looks so much like you, Princess Speck. I thought that my genes would pull through but like always, you manage to get your way at the weirdest times. I hope I can tell you about her. Then you’ll have two women kicking your ass._

 

The others were unconvinced, but Harvey already lost the battle when he noticed the nicknames that she used to use for him. He was going to throw up.

 

Louis then asked why Sherman believed it was Harvey so badly. The gruff old man began to explain the timeline, which he had been thinking of. Laura Eileen Hollis was born on August 20th, 1996. He informed them that she was about 4 weeks ahead of schedule, which placed her conception just around December of 1995. Harvey was sweating, but still hadn’t uttered a single word. Donna wasn’t even sure if he was even breathing.

 

Harvey mentally noted that December 1995 was around the same time that David started dating Carol. Unfortunately, due to this entire event, David was obviously no longer a candidate.

 

In true trial fashion, Jessica and Louis began to grill Harvey in front of Donna and Sherman.

 

“Was she seeing anyone other than the two of you?” Jessica asked, glaring at him. He shrugged.

 

“She never told me about a third prospect.” Was all he said. Although, He knew for a fact that Carol hadn’t slept with anyone else that semester. He could swear that he was beginning to hallucinate.

 

“Did you always wear protection?” Louis tried. Harvey shrugged again.

 

“Louis, condoms are like 95% effective.” Jessica chastised, shaking her head “Room for error.” The lawyers began to bicker about the statistics of condoms while Harvey just looked around the room at anything except Sherman and his colleagues. Donna groaned and decided to take this into her own hands.

 

“Mr. Hollis!” she shouted, demanding the attention of the entire room. Once everyone stopped fussing, she sighed and relaxed her tone. “What exactly would you like to accomplish here?”

 

Sherman stood and scratched his head. “All I’m asking for is that he take a paternity test.” It was a simple request. He looked at his watch and sighed. He needed to check out of his hotel and head to the airport. He was only in town for a networking conference for his side business. “Look, I appreciate the detective grilling, but I got a train to catch.” He placed the letter back in his pocket and offered Donna his business card. “Call me when you decide.” He said, looking at Harvey.

 

The team bid him farewell and as soon as he left, they erupted into a fit. Mike and Harvey escaped into the coffee room so that Harvey could calm down a bit. Mike noticed how his friend was looking and thought that it was the news of his friend dying.

 

“He’s got to be some kind of lunatic, right?” Mike asked, bewildered. “Like…how could someone just hide a whole damn kid from someone else?” Mike then began to minimize the entire thing by using logic and Harvey kind of admired that from him. “You said yourself, she graduated in 1996. She graduated on time.” Harvey sighed.

 

“But I hadn’t seen her since December.” The blonde said as he poured himself some coffee. “We spoke on the phone. She started a practicum and I barely saw her.” Mike scoffed.

 

“Why aren’t you fighting this?” he queried, confused as to why Harvey was giving into this so easily. “This is a big deal and it needs to be dealt with seriously. This could be taken into family court for like…literal years! We can shut it down though! They have no evidence.”

 

“I appreciate that,” Harvey said, taking a sip of his drink, “but the fact of the matter is that this mess is between no one but me and the Hollis family.” The name partner attempted to leave the room but Mike was insistent.

 

“But this accusation will get around and that’s going to affect everything –!”

 

“MIKE.” Harvey cut him off, slamming his mug onto the countertop. Mike instantly shut his mouth and eyed the older lawyer. “Listen.” Harvey began, carefully, “If…if what Sherman was saying is even remotely true, then that girl has been dragged through the mud for far too long.” Harvey made sure to look Mike in the eyes, as he spoke. Maybe then he would understand the weight of this situation. “I know what it’s like to have a parent not give a shit about your goddamn well-being, in favour of nothing but themselves. On top of that, her goddamn mother died last year.” His brown eyes locked onto Mike’s blue ones, hoping that his junior associate would get it through his brilliant mind. This was more than an accusation. “I’m a lot of things, Mike; a fantastic lawyer; a rich, nonchalant bachelor –!”

 

“Not to mention super humble –!”

 

“but I am not going to be the asshole that didn’t give a damn. If there is a chance that she’s…my daughter…then I’m not letting this one go. Like you said, this is serious. But it involves me and the Hollis family.” He sighed one last time, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Let me do this.”

 

All the junior could do was nod and accept the decision Harvey was making. Harvey began to exit the room again, but Mike had one more clarifying question.

 

“So, who was Carol?” at that, Harvey turned around; Mike would swear it was the most emotion he had ever seen him give.

 

“The best, goddamned, friend this asshole ever fucking had.” Harvey slammed his fist against the door frame before exiting, leaving Mike in the dust. He marched over to where his assistant was and shouted at her. “Donna! Call Sherman within the hour. Give him my number and my schedule. I’ll do the paternity test.” She was in the midst of a conversation, with Jessica, when he just marched on through. Jessica merely stared after him in confusion while Donna smiled knowingly.

 

This was going to be one hell of a year.

 

 

…

 

 

Arlington, MA

Boston Harbor Hotel

September 26th, 2013

11:03 a.m.

 

Harvey spent the entire weekend just contemplating his next move. The only thing that he could do was take the paternity test on Monday, and wait, which is what he did. He told himself, on the weekend, that if the test came back positive, he’d go to Carol’s hometown.

 

Well.

 

He had been in Massachusetts since last night.

 

He told Donna to book him a room in any hotel in Boston, for two days. Judging by the stressed out look on Harvey’s face, while he was still clutching the paternity test results in his hand, the redhead guessed that he’d need a really damn good place to stay. As the ever-perfect assistant that she was, Donna booked him a decently priced room at the Boston Harbor Hotel. The room was a deluxe suite, with a marbled bathroom. It was super comfortable and very spacious but Harvey wasn’t able to sleep.

 

He had a daughter.

 

A 17-year-old daughter.

 

He didn’t know what he was actually going to do, this morning, but it was too late because he found himself dialing Sherman Hollis’ cellphone number into his own phone. The retired policeman was pretty surprised at the call, but sounded happy to hear from him.

 

They began to discuss a plan of action, considering the positive test results. After a brief discussion, Harvey asked Sherman for a favour. Sherman was already so grateful for Harvey’s cooperation and without hesitation, Harvey was able to go to the next and last stop of his short Massachusetts trip.

 

 

…

 

 

_Cambridge, MA_

_Corporal Burns Park_

_September 26 th, 1995_

_11:10 p.m._

_It was a few hours after a party, that some business major decided to throw at their home. The house was just outside of Cambridge in a neighbouring suburb. Harvey and Carol had gone with a few of their friends, arriving at the location around 9:30. It was a pretty standard party; some weed (and other things), loud trashy music that no one would ever actually listen to, and a shit ton of booze._

_Harvey had only met Carol during the first week of school. He was excited to finally get to see her loosen up and enjoy herself; she was always freaking out about one of her major classes and gossip. There was always a ton of gossip. Harvey had no idea what was going on, in the kinesiology program, but he hoped that it wasn’t nearly as bad as the drama in the J.D. program._

_Either way, they left the party early because some drama spiralled out of control. Carol bumped into some random guy, on the way to the snacks table, and some other girl got ridiculously angry. Apparently, said random guy was her boyfriend and she was not a fan of Carol. The girl screamed something like ‘you erased my name from the assignment, whore!’ and then Carol responded with ‘maybe I wouldn’t have removed it if you weren’t sucking dick instead of actually helping!’. The situation faired no better as Carol consumed an impressive amount of alcohol (Harvey should have suspected something when she started chasing every drink with a bottle of Hpnotiq, instead of sodas or juice). Harvey and some other people broke up the fight after a few minutes because a) most people were too hammered and…yeah, it was mostly because people were too hammered. After the scuffle, Harvey tried to find their other friends but resorted to just leaving without them (one guy was hooking up with someone in the hut tub, one girl was doing a keg stand, and the other guy was…Harvey hoped he was okay). He wrapped his arm around Carol and another person helped him to secure her arm around his neck._

_“Thanks guys; I appreciate it.” He said, gratefully. After making sure his flask was in his denim jacket, he slowly began to exit the house with his drunk friend._

_They took a few wrong turns and ended up in a park. Harvey called his roommate, who had a car, and asked him to come and get them. After a few groans and offers of bribery, the roommate agreed and told Harvey to hang tight for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, Harvey just sat on the grass beside Carol, listening to her bitch about the girl from the party. He quickly learned that her name was Deborah, and Carol had a whole glossary of reasons as to why she and her never got along._

_“That’s a terrible thing to say.” Harvey argued, handing the flask back to Carol. He was wiping the whiskey from his lips with the sleeves of his denim jacket._

_“It’s not that terrible,” Carol said, right before taking her own sip._

_“All she did was tell you that it made no sense.” Harvey defended, “I mean, I don’t know why it doesn’t make sense, but it’s a valid opinion.” Carol scrunched her face at him. Before he could say anything else, she spat on his shoe. “JACKASS!” Harvey yelped, immediately jumping up from his spot on the grass. “These were new Adidas!”_

_“And you’re supposed to be MY friend!” she retorted, chugging some more whiskey. Harvey raised his brows; kind of impressed yet kind of worried._

_“Why does it matter that I think another person has a right to counter you?” Harvey asked, genuinely confused. Probably because of the liquor. Carol just laughed and began to belt out a song._

_“‘Cause we made a promise; we swore we’d always remember! No retreat; baby no surrender!”_

_“Are you singing Bruce Springsteen?” Harvey chuckled, quite amused. Despite his interruption, the brunette continued to sing._

_“Blood brothers on a summer’s night; with a vow to defend! No retreat; baby no surrender!” Harvey just shook his head and plopped back down, beside his new friend._

…

 

 

Arlington, MA

Mt. Pleasant Cemetery

September 26th, 2013

1:20 p.m.

 

 

After two hours of moping and finally getting the courage to do what he originally planned, Harvey took a cab and followed the directions that Sherman had given him.

 

Alas, he found himself trudging through the grass lots and gravestones at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery; Carol Hollis’ final resting place (“Her name reads ‘Carol Branis’, just so you know” were the man’s simple instructions). Harvey didn’t even know why he really wanted to visit the grave in the first place; it wouldn’t be able to explain to him anything.

 

It can’t explain why she decided to hide this from him.

 

Four minutes, and two random holes in the ground later, he finally found Carol’s grave.

 

_Carol Branis (April 2 nd, 1973-January 19th, 2012)_

Harvey sighed and took a small flask of whiskey out from his coat pocket. As he unscrewed the cap, he just stared at the gravestone in front of him. It was just a large granite rectangle, lilacs engraved along the border. It was simple and sleek, just as Harvey suspected it would be. After a large sip of his drink, he began to speak.

 

“So, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?” taking another sip, he listened to the birds and the buzz of insects in the distance.

 

She can’t respond to him.

 

So, he shrugged and took another sip.

 

“Were you just never going to tell me?” yet another sip, “Or _her_ , for that matter? Seriously, Carol; what were you even thinking?” another beat of deafening silence clouded his ears and he felt the alcohol coursing through his veins. “You didn’t even follow through on your lie, Carol. Sherman told me how you insisted that she keep the name ‘Hollis’.” He scoffed at the memory, shaking his head. “He said that you wanted to keep the name going strong, because everyone had already been married off, so you wanted her to be a Hollis.” The lawyer let out a stream of coarse laughter, “Fuck off, Carol; you were _guilty_ because she wasn’t his. _She. Wasn’t. A. Branis_.” Another round of laughter escaped his throat, but the whiskey was starting to make his throat burn. “I can’t fucking believe you didn’t fucking tell me. I saw you, when you came back for an alumni event, in 2000, and you never fucking said anything!” he could feel his anger begin to grow, not even registering the other visitors at the cemetery. Although other people were visibly uncomfortable, they just guessed that he was going through the stages of grief. “You told everyone ‘oh, Davey and I have been married for about 4 years now!’, but you couldn’t once say ‘OH! By the way: our daughter is _your daughter_!’; are you kidding me?!” there was a gasp and Harvey looked up.

 

It was an elderly woman being escorted, probably by one of her adult children, and the lawyer suddenly felt a wave of guilt. The poor, unsuspecting, family was most likely visiting a loved one and he shouldn’t be screaming his head off at a gravestone. Harvey quickly tore his eyes away from the family and re-focused his attention to the name on the grave.

 

“You always made me look like a goddamn fool, Hollis.” He said softly, “just…how could you? You, yourself, knew how much I hate being lied to.” Harvey felt his throat become dry as he said his next bit. “You lied to me and she lied to me too!” after saying it, he immediately regretted it and took a moment to collect himself. His flask was now empty so there was nothing left to distract him. Nothing but the birds and the buzzing of insects were left to comfort him.

 

Carol was nowhere as horrible and neglectful as his own mother. She didn’t cheat; the baby was conceived before she started dating David. She didn’t lie; the kid was probably too invested in the male figure that had already been there. She didn’t force the kid to lie to David; the ability to lie only came from knowing the actual truth, which she didn’t.

 

Harvey sighed and sat on the grass, just in front of the gravestone. He could just leave now; his flight was at 4:15 so he should be packing. Who was he kidding? He made this trip on a whim. He had just the clothes on his back, toiletries, phone accessories, his wallet, keys and extra underwear. He could stay here for an hour or two, if he really wanted.

 

But he didn’t really want to leave because Carol wasn’t going to leave.

 

“So…” Harvey began, “I can’t believe you named her Laura.” He stated through a hearty chuckle, “Did she ever ask you where the name came from?” Carol and Harvey had a favourite 24-hour diner that they frequented, after classes. The name was escaping him, but it was owned by a small family with the surname ‘Todd’. One of the servers, a lovely older woman who gave them free desserts, was named Laura. She was their absolute favourite person and they would always ask if she was working, whenever they went to have food. “‘Hey, you were named after the lady at your dad and I’s favourite diner’,” Harvey laughed, causing himself to cough a bit “Laura? Really? What a great and modern name, Carol. Was Britney not doing it for you? Tiffany, maybe?” Harvey was beginning to realize just how intoxicated he already was, judging by this stupid conversation with a tombstone. “Whatever, at least it won’t sound atrocious when she gets older.”

 

He continued to bother her about the name choice while, secretly, actually kind of liking it. Laura always greeted them with a bright smile and a whimsical laugh. They had good times in that diner; there were never any fights or commotions happening when they visited. It was kind of like a safe haven where they could go to escape the outside world. Well, that and the free desserts of course.

 

The happy memories were becoming too much for him, so Harvey switched up the conversation topic.

 

“Your asshole of a husband is going to freeze her out of his accounts soon.” Harvey informed the gravestone. He paused, pretending like it was responding back to him. “Sherman said the statement was: ‘No point in it if she isn’t mine’. Moron. She’d been in his care for 17 years already; what’s the deal?” no reply from the grave. “Yeah, well…where does that leave me? What the hell should I do?” there wasn’t a whole lot of options but the social workers wouldn’t bother him for one year of payment…would they? “She’s 18 next year; legally an adult. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

 

Harvey carefully stood up, trying not to disturb the sacred ground surrounding Carol’s gravestone. Once he felt steady enough, he began to walk away. The lawyer only got about one meter forward when he turned around. Even though she was dead, he could feel her judging him.

 

Judging him for his words.

 

Judging him for being disaffected and uncaring.

 

He could almost hear her calling him an idiot.

 

“Then what should I do, Carol?” he questioned into the afternoon air. The birds stopped singing and the insects were nowhere near as loud as before. He groaned in annoyance, fully knowing what Carol would want him to do.

 

“Fine. you talked me into it.”

 

…

 

 

New York City, NY

Hilton Garden Inn

October 19th, 2013

12:23 p.m.

 

“You can do this, you can do this, YOU CAN DO THIS!” she chanted, pacing back and forth in the tiny, yet quite spacious, hotel room. Laura Hollis had ventured to New York as she had applied to Columbia and NYU. She originally planned a trip, with her friends, so that they could tour the school campuses together. It took Laura, and her friend Lafontaine, a ridiculously long time to convince Sherman Hollis to let Laura go on this trip. The thing that settled him was that the trip was being chaperoned by Lafontaine’s older step-sister, Betty. They told him it was going to be Lafontaine’s other step-sibling, but that wasn’t important anymore.

 

Laura’s plans changed when her grandfather told her that her biological father was open to meeting up with her. She was completely blindsided by the idea but the shock wasn’t enough to deter her from meeting him and getting some answers. She was going to be a journalist, after all.

 

Laura wanted to know everything about the man that, basically, gave her a life. She wanted to know how he met her mother (no matter how crude the story must be). She wanted to know what he was like, what he did, why he did it and if he was willing to help her. She also wanted to know if they had anything in common. Laura and David were such polar opposites who would always end up fighting. When she began researching the ‘Harvey S.’ from Harvard, she found out that he was some big shot lawyer from Manhattan. She imagined that he’d be the typical lawyer architype; cocky, confident, intelligent yet argumentative and annoying. Laura didn’t think she fit into any of those traits. She said as much, to her grandmother, who laughed and left the room.

 

That woman was trouble.

 

Presently, her three friends (LaFontaine, Perry, and Natalie) sat idly by, on the hotel room’s second bed, just watching her in her chaotic state. They truly wanted to help calm her down, but no one really knew what to say to her in this exact situation. It’s not like everyone has a long-lost father. Even if they did, it was even less likely that they’d ever meet them.

 

So yes, Laura was the embodiment of stressed out.

 

“Your pacing is giving me a headache.” Natalie groaned, running her fingers through her dark hair as she scrolled through her phone.

 

“Maybe you’re just holding your phone too close to your face.” Lafontaine supplied. Natalie looked up at Lafontaine and then looked back at Laura, who was still pacing.

 

“Nope,” Natalie confirmed, “Laura’s giving me a headache.”

 

“I just don’t know what to say to him!” Laura cried, hugging her arms around herself.

 

“Sure, you do,” Lafontaine smiled, “‘Hey dad, long time no see’ – OW!” the short-haired redhead began rub their arm, where Perry had slapped them. Perry glared at them, disappointed.

 

“This is an important moment for Laura, LaF!” the curly-haired redhead scolded, “We cannot make light of this. She clearly needs support; making fun of her is not going to get her to be any less calm.”

 

“Sorry Laura,” Lafontaine said, crossing their arms over their chest.

 

Natalie scoffed, still looking at her phone, “I’m not.”

 

“NAT!” Perry was about to launch into a long-winded rant, when Laura stopped her.

 

“Thanks, Per,” Laura said softly, “but I am kind of making a big deal out of this.” Perry was going to protest, but Laura put up her hand to stop her, “I shouldn’t be worried; this isn’t going to be life changing. He probably just wants to see how I turned out. He may not even offer to help me.”

 

“That’s dumb,” Natalie laughed, “why wouldn’t he wanna help you?”

 

“I mean…he’s some big city lawyer.” The short blonde argued, “I can’t expect him to just…drop everything.”

 

“But what if he does?” LaF countered. Laura just shook her head.

 

“Doubt it.” The small blonde huffed and collapsed onto her and Natalie’s bed. There was a chance that LaF could be right; Laura was his biological daughter, after all. It wouldn’t be completely out of the ordinary if, by some strange force of nature, that he’d be willing to help. But there was still much doubt swirling around in the teen’s mind.

 

Besides; what’s a big shot city lawyer going to do with a 17-year-old?

 

“Hey, dweebs,” said a rough voice from outside of their door, startling the girls a bit. More knocking and shouting came and the teens guessed that it was probably Betty. Lafontaine rolled their eyes and shouted back.

 

“What do you want, Betts?!” Perry, Laura and Natalie cringed; LaF and Betty’s shouting matches were anything but pleasant. They shouted so often that no one believed LaF when they said that Betty was their favourite step-sibling.

 

The short-haired redhead made their way over to the door and opened it, revealing a very annoyed-looking Betty. LaFontaine and Betty had been step-siblings for over six years, but if you asked either of them, they’d say they were real siblings…although they never showed it in public. Betty’s light blonde hair was up in a messy bun and she looked like she just rolled out of bed. No lies here, she probably did.

 

“The car’s ready to bring us to Laura’s dad’s office, or whatever.” Betty announced, never looking up from her phone – probably due to her Instagram addiction. All the other teenagers glanced towards Laura, awaiting her response.

 

This was it; this was the moment where she’d have to make a “fork-in-the-road” decision. Option one; tell the cab driver to fudge off and never come back. That way, Laura and her friends could go about their days, never knowing what could have been done. Laura would be who she was – right now – forever; a single child with a dead mother, an estranged fake father and a father she never knew. And then there’s option two; Laura Hollis meets Harvey and they can talk things through so that she gets her closure, like an adult.

 

Yes.

_An Adult_.

 

Laura smiled wide and puffed out her chest with a new-found confidence. She was ready.

 

“Let’s do this!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura finally meets her real dad. Other drama happens after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Really didn't expect anyone to read this, let alone give it "kudos". Thank you, honestly. I hope you enjoy this next bit of word vomit.

New York City, NY

Pearson Specter Litt LLP

October 19th, 2013

1:36 p.m.

 

“How’re you feeling?” Mike asked Harvey, who was pacing in his office. The senior lawyer would trudge from wall to wall of the room, nibbling on his nails. Mike would be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy Harvey looking less confident and unsure. The junior didn’t even think that Harvey possessed such emotions and to see them manifesting was quite extraordinary. He’d upload a video to YouTube if he could, but he’d prefer his face to not be punched. Quietly, Mike took his leave, letting Harvey soak in the moment on his own.

Harvey had barely registered Mike’s presence all day, until the young junior had left his office. Sherman had messaged him, last night, saying that Laura had hopped off the train safely with her friends. The gruff old man also asked if Harvey wanted to know the hotel information but he declined; he didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. Sherman understood that and told the lawyer that he’d be updated as soon as Laura was on her way.

Sherman called him just over an hour ago. Laura was in a cab, with her friends, on their way to the office. Harvey relayed the information to Donna who was extremely excited. Donna then announced it to Jessica, who then insisted that everyone “act natural” in order for the teens to feel welcome.

Apparently, “acting natural” consisted of Louis, Donna, Rachel and Gretchen huddled in Jessica’s office. The group watched the front lobby cameras, on Jessica’s laptop, waiting for the kids to show up. This wasn’t at all creepy if you asked them, directly. It was merely an…observational technique. Jessica also took the liberty of making sure all other client spaces were cleared from 1:00 p.m. and onward.

“Shouldn’t someone be out there?” Rachel asked, whispering as if they were all undercover. “You know…to greet them?” the paralegal had a point; currently, the front desk was unoccupied. Everyone turned to face Gretchen who just scoffed and folded her arms over her chest, in a dramatic fashion.

“Don’t look at me.” She huffed, pointing at her rose gold wristwatch, “I’m on an actual break.”

“We’ve been in here, over an hour already!” Louis complained, “When’s that kid supposed to be here?!”

“There isn’t a set time!” Mike said, suddenly entering the office; is abrupt presence causing the others to jump.

“Can’t you knock?!” Donna questioned, clutching her chest. Mike just rolled his eyes.

“And can’t you people get a frickin’ grip?” he countered. The room went silent, urging him to continue. “This is a big moment for Harvey, okay? The least we can do is just – I don’t know! – pretend that we aren’t gossip hungry rats.” Everyone took mild offence to that, but before anything else could be said, Rachel’s voice broke through.

The paralegal’s pointer figure was honed in on the laptop screen, where the camera was pointed at the entrance to the lobby. “Is that them?” She asked. Everyone huddled in, closer together. With a roll of his eyes, curiosity took over him and Mike also walked over to observe.

What he saw was, what appeared to be, four young girls looking very confused. Amongst their confused expressions, Mike also noticed a tint of awe; probably having never stepped foot in an Upper Manhattan law office before. Mike recognized the feeling and empathized with it, having felt the exact same when he first stepped in to work under Harvey. Their expressions were adorable, but his eyes drifted towards the smallest member of the group, who was standing at the front. She had dirty blonde hair and was wearing a bright blue denim shirt which was tucked into some grey slacks. Mike could tell she tried to look presentable because her friends were all dressed in sweats. Except for the taller of the two redheads present, who wore jeans and a white top.

“That’s her.” Mike said confidently, pointing to the small blonde in the denim shirt. “That’s Harvey’s lovechild.” Mike didn’t need Harvey’s backstory to tell; he just knew. Everyone looked to the front of the pack and nodded. Louis shook his head in disbelief and was utterly speechless.

“Good thing Harvey didn’t go to court,” Jessica said out loud. Everyone looked at her, waiting for the rest of the sentence. “poor bastard would’ve been nailed on the spot.”

“It’s like someone shrunk him and gave him a wig,” Donna observed, inching her face closer to the screen. “It’s remarkable!” while everyone continued to have a moment, Mike pulled back from the gossip circle and began to straighten out his grey suit. Rachel looked at him, with a puzzled expression.

“Where are you going?” she asked him, as he headed towards the door.

With his hand on the handle, Mike turned to her and said, “It’s Gretchen’s break. I’ll walk her in.” and with that, the junior had made his exit.

 

…

 

Laura and her friends were instructed to go to this exact floor by the very polite, yet creepy, doorman. Her and her friends were now standing in the lobby of an office called “Pearson Specter Litt”, as identified by the silver lettering on the wall. She recognized the second name as being her biological father’s last name. Laura already figured that he was majorly successful, so that wasn’t a shock; her real shock came from actually being here. She was minutes away from being introduced to her real father and was feeling very weird and excited about the whole ordeal.

“Well, dang.” Laura heard LaF say, from behind her, “Your old man has done well for himself.” Laura nodded along, expecting nothing else from LaFontaine: Captain Obvious.

“I’ll say,” Perry said, walking up to the front desk and observing the layout of the entire office, “the detailing and structure of this open-concept theme is quite minimal…yet expensive.” The taller redhead was going to school for design. Where exactly? No one knew yet as they all had just finished submitting their applications.

“What do you think he’ll be like?” Natalie asked, causing Laura to face her. The blonde had no idea how to answer that question. In preparation for today, she had watched a ton of lawyer shows. She didn’t want to be stereotypical, but she did want to make and informed estimate. She voiced as much to Natalie, who shook her head and called her weird. “You’re making this too weird for yourself, Laur.” The short black-haired girl told her, “He may not be like all those stuck ups in those shows.”

“I’d beg to differ!” LaF said, “My uncle’s a real piece of work. He’s a lawyer.”

“Your whole family is a piece of work.” Natalie muttered causing Laura to laugh a little. LaFontaine just rolled their eyes. “My cousin is a lawyer, and she’s pretty nice.”

“It all depends on what they do,” Perry said, “LaF’s uncle works for big institutions and your cousin works for a government office that helps children.” Perry’s reasoning was so solid at all times and Laura really loved that about her friend.

“So, we should figure out what goes on in here then.” Natalie concluded while everyone nodded along. That was the only logical option.

“Let’s ask that guy.” LaF said, pointing down the hallway as Laura turned around to follow their gaze. Her eyes had now landed on the tall young man approaching her and her friends. He was dressed in a fitted light grey suit with a dark blue tie. His hair was short and golden blonde but he looked way too young to be her biological father, so Laura let her shoulders relax. When he finally reached her, and her friends, he smiled wide and extended one of his hands for a hand-shake.

“Hey, my name’s Mike!” he said, remaining as friendly and approachable as he had originally seemed. Laura smiled and shook his hand, timidly.

“Hi,” she greeted, “I’m –!”

“Laura!” he exclaimed, cutting her off in a cheerily voice. Mike clapped his hands together, as if this was something he should’ve remembered. “Yes, right! Harvey’s been fussing all day about you.” That statement came as a shock to the young journalist-to-be.

“He has?” she squeaked out, in confusion.

“I have?” came another man’s voice, from behind them. It sounded equally as confused but it was way deeper, like deeper and calmer than Mike’s voice. Judging by the pronoun used, this man was the man Laura had been searching for over the span of three months. Laura’s breath momentarily caught in her throat and she didn’t really want to turn around. She, suddenly, didn’t feel ready to look at him. glancing to her left, she saw Natalie and LaFontaine, who were just standing there with their mouths hanging open in shock. Laura groaned; now she was compelled to turn around.

Stood before her was a sharply dressed man in a deep blue suit. His tie was black and so were his leather shoes. His hair was dirty blonde, like hers, and his expression was less than amused (but he wasn’t looking at her, so Laura felt a little better). He looked to be about the same height as Mike, maybe a little taller, but she was unsure of her estimate because he was standing too casually with his head lolled to the side. One of his hands was in the pocket of his dress pants while the other held a black mug. He pursed his lips, waiting for Mike to answer him.

Mike kind of shrugged and cleared his throat before answering, obviously a little intimidated by this other man’s presence. “Well what else would you call pacing in your office, for two hours straight?” Laura expected the man’s expression to falter, after being called out, but it didn’t.

“I wouldn’t call it fussing.” The man said before turning his attention to Laura.

They stared at one another, finally, letting the moment sink in. Laura had never seen photos of him but her grandpa had told her that they looked eerily similar. Laura didn’t believe him initially as everyone usually told her that she shared similar features with every blonde person, ever. This time, though, she felt bad for not believing pops; he was incredibly spot on. Laura was flabbergasted because she shared no biological features with her mother whatsoever. Her mother had dark brown hair, almost black, and her eyes were blue. Laura had always noticed that she didn’t share any physical traits with David, which should have been everyone’s first red flag. Now Laura wasn’t a man, and she wasn’t tall, but she felt that if she was either she’d look like what was standing in front of her. Judging by his current expression, he was probably thinking the same thing she was.

“Laura Hollis, I presume?” he asked, taking a sip from his mug while never breaking their eye contact. Laura also noted that they shared eye colours. It was kind of refreshing to know that she resembled someone; her whole life, she was just the black sheep of the flock. She looked nothing like her cousins and absolutely nothing like her grandparents. But right now, in front of this stranger, she finally felt like she fit in with someone.

After a moment of belonging and self-revelation, Laura realized that she hadn’t answered his question. She figured nodding, aggressively, would give him an appropriate answer. Before she could have a mild panic attack, he nodded towards her, offering her his free hand that was once in his pocket.

“I’m Harvey Specter.” He introduced himself, much more confidently than Laura expected him to be. She then, very carefully, took his hand in hers and shook it. She had no idea why she was being so quiet; she prepared a speech and even practiced calculated and appropriate hand gestures to accompany said speech. Her grandma always complains that she speaks way too much.

“Uh – Hi.” Was the only intelligent word that the small blonde could come up with, at this point in time. Harvey seemed to notice her nervousness and just nodded again.

“Are these your friends?” Harvey asked, gesturing to the other teenagers in the vicinity. Sensing that he opened a safe gateway, averting more awkwardness, Laura sprang into introduction mode.

“Yes – right! My friends!” Laura immediately grabbed Natalie’s shoulders, shoving her (rather aggressively) in between her and Harvey. Natalie was not impressed. “This is my friend, Natalie! I’ve known her since daycare!” before Natalie could even wave, or protest, Laura shoved her away and grasped both Perry and LaF. “I met these two, in middle school! This is LaF and Perry!” both redheads waved shyly, unsure of what else to do. Harvey was still stoic and nodded along. Laura really didn’t know how to interpret that.

“Mhm.” Harvey hummed to himself. He took another sip from his mug, just staring into Laura’s soul. Laura had always thought that she was good at reading people’s expressions. Perhaps the nervousness of the day was screwing up her usual journalistic intuition. Or, like the many people from various television shows, Laura could not read lawyers’ expressions. “Mike?” Harvey asked, causing the younger man to jerk his head up.

“Yeah?”

“Can you take Natalie, Perry and …” Harvey just stared at LaF, snapping his fingers in hopes that he’d remember the name. LaF just smiled and decided to spare him the misery.

“LaF,” The shorter redhead supplied, “It’s short for LaFontaine, sir.” Mostly all the teens were shocked that he remembered most of their names.

“Yes, and LaF – could you bring them somewhere? Order lunch or something? I’d ask Donna but…” Harvey glanced up to the ceiling, with a suspicious glare, and Laura followed his gaze. Her eyes came to rest on a lone camera in the top corner of the lobby. “Yeah, just take them to go relax someplace. Laura and I have things to discuss.” Mike nodded and gestured for LaF, Perry and Natalie to follow him. They began to huddle around him and everyone watched as Harvey began to walk back to where they assumed his office was.

Mike leaned towards Laura and nudged her shoulder with his. “Follow him, he doesn’t wait around.” Without hesitation, Laura quickly scurried after him while Mike smiled. He had a good feeling about this. “Okay guys,” Mike said, ushering them forward, “I’ll show you around the office and then I’ll order you some food, on Harvey’s card.”

 

…

 

Most of the time, Harvey liked to think he knew what he was doing. His whole life, apart from family drama, was relatively calculated. Well, in hindsight, meeting Laura would technically be considered family drama. Either way, Harvey had no idea how to approach this. How do you even start a conversation like this? Seriously? The seasoned lawyer had even considered consulting reality television and soap operas for insight.

What do you say to your 17-year-old daughter, who you never knew existed? It’d be so much easier if she was a baby because then you could just hold her, watch her grow, be there for dance recitals – the whole enchilada. This…this was brand new territory and Harvey had zero clues on how to navigate it.

The lawyer had spent nights, awake, just thinking about all the things he could say to her. Yet here she was sitting right in front of him; hands folded in her lap, back straight, eyes darting around the room. She was real and he wanted to know what she was thinking.

More than anything, he was just pretty taken aback by how much features they shared. Laura was short, but height seemed to be the only thing she was missing from him. The dirty blonde hair, the brown eyes…her facial structure was way more feminine, obviously, but their resemblance was uncanny. He briefly wondered if Laura had ever felt that David was never included in the equation.

“So…” Laura started suddenly, still not looking directly at him, “…this is happening. Like…it’s actually happening.” Laura’s voice sounded uncertain and a little shaky. Harvey kind of appreciated how she seemed to be freaking out just as much as he was. The only difference was that Laura seemed to be the physical embodiment of his emotions while he seemed to think that he hid his well.

“Looks like it.” Harvey sighed, drumming his fingers on his desk. He figured that he should just put himself out there to get rid of this tension. “Ask me anything, kid.” He offered, “I’ll tell you anything.” He watched Laura as she began to contemplate her questions.

Harvey was anticipating the usual questions like “ _Did you love my mom?”, “Did you ever know about me?”_ or _“Can we start hanging out?”._ You know, the usual “just found out about my _real_ parent” questions. Harvey started to take a sip from his mug again, which would soon prove to be a large mistake.

“Why?” she finally asked. The lawyer was a little confused, and almost spat out his coffee.

Coughing, dearly trying to recover from his slip, Harvey set his mug back down. “Why what?”

“Why did you agree to meet with me?” Harvey was taken aback; he was not ready for that question. Laura’s eyes met his, for a brief moment. Her eyes were intense and certain, unlike how she was initially. Harvey had never seen himself, speaking to a client, but he imagined that his expression would sort of read like Laura’s. She still had her hands in her lap, but she leaned over the desk a little more, as if leaning into him would help answer question. Before Harvey could say anything, she scoffed and leant back in her seat. Her eyes closed a little, like she was trying to will herself to not cry. “I’m turning 18, next year.” She said, quietly, “What’s the point?”

The lawyer had no idea how to respond to that. Well…that was a lie. He knew how he had to respond: he had to tell her the truth. Harvey didn’t expect to say it, this early in the game, but if she wasn’t gonna beat around the bush he had no other options.

“Look,” Harvey said, placing both of his hands on the desk, in between them, “It may not be an obligation for me anymore, but I’ll be honest; I wanted to meet you.” Laura’s eyes snapped up to meet his at his admission. _Good_ , he thought, _she’s listening_. “Carol was my best friend, during my first year at Harvard.” Harvey told her, “We didn’t…click _that way_ …but we were close.” The blonde man sucked in a breath, trying to calm himself down. this next part was going to take the wind right out of him if he wasn’t careful. “When your grandpa came, and told me that I had the possibility of having a kid, it meant so much to me. Family is, and always has been, important to me.” Although Harvey’s family situation was a little botched right now, this wasn’t a lie. Family was important to him, but so was loyalty, respect and trust. “We may not become best of friends but if you’re planning on being in New York, like your grandpa says, I’d like to be there for you. If you’ll let me.” Their eyes met once more, just kind of searching one another for any signs of a trick. If Harvey wasn’t so scared shitless, he’d be impressed. “Can I ask something now?” He said, when she broke the eye contact. He waited for her to nod before continuing, “Why did you wanna meet me?” Laura smiled a little, realizing that he threw the same question right back at her.

“Two reasons.” Laura began, patting her lap with her hands out of nervousness, “The second reason is more of an immediate need; I’m planning on going to school.” The smaller blonde told him, point blank. “If David freezes me out of everything, I’ll have nothing but my grandparents’ money. They’re both retired and living comfortably, but I don’t want to take up too much from them. Mom always said they had enough kids to provide for and she wanted me to go to the best school.” Her saying ‘mom’ almost broke her, but she pushed through her bit. “They wouldn’t be able to afford me living away, so honestly, if you can help me, that’d be cool.” Harvey just nodded in complete understanding. Everyone should go to school. “But the first reason?” she said, “I wanted to meet my real dad. I never felt remotely close to David, like ever. He was nice, most times, but it all felt off. I wanted to meet you.”

“Okay.” Harvey said, tapping his desk again. He wanted to know what she wanted to do for her degree, so he thought that would be a gateway to an easier conversation. “So, what are you planning on doing?” He asked her. “For school, I mean.” It seemed to be the right move because she was smiling from ear to ear in no time.

“Oh, I wanna go to school for journalism!” Laura told him, excitedly. She was practically bouncing in her seat. “I love to write my opinions on things and I love to uncover new things!” Harvey wondered if he was this giddy when he went to school for political science. Probably not. Seeing her so happy and hopeful kind of warmed his heart a little bit, if he was being honest with himself.

“And where’d you apply to? Sherman said you were finished with applications.”

“I applied to the University of Boston, as a last resort.” She told him, waving it off like it wasn’t also a really good school. He understood her; she had goals. Very specific goals. “Then my second choice is Columbia.” She said, a little more energetically, “But my main choice in NYU!” Harvey was starting to realize that Laura wore her heart on her sleeve. If she thought it, she said it. Harvey felt a tug at his heartstrings again because that aspect of Laura was very much Carol.

The blonde man reached for his coffee again. “I went there.” Harvey said, nonchalantly, watching her eyes get wider. He smiled but it wasn’t visible, behind his mug. “Nice place.” Laura scooted towards him, on the edge of her seat. If she goes to NYU, that means they’d also have that in common. She really liked that prospect.

“You went to NYU?”

“Yeah. I’m from Riverside.” He told her, setting his mug back down. “You seen the campus yet? Sherman said that’s why you and your friends are here.”

Laura shook her head. “No, we start campus tours tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Harvey said, taking the phone form his desk, “Let me call a guy I know; he’ll give you guys the real tour.” He winked and she smiled wide. Laura didn’t want to get her hopes up, but she thinks that she and Harvey will get along well. He seemed really nice and honest and that’s all she could have really hoped for.

The rest of the visit went by uneventfully. Harvey introduced her to all of his coworkers. He never once introduced her as his daughter, but Laura had a feeling that they already knew who she was to him. Her favourite people, so far, would be Mike, Rachel and Donna. They were very excited to meet her, and were super nice to her and her friends. Louis was also really cool, but Harvey kept having this weird look on his face whenever Laura would talk to him. Everyone else in the office seemed to mind their own business. Jessica Pearson was kind of intimidating, but she was still welcoming. She also appreciated not being referred to as his daughter yet; she wanted them to get there on their own.

It was about 4 p.m. when Laura and her friends finally left Pearson Specter Litt. They had a fun time, just hanging around the office with all these cool new people. They were in a cab that Harvey had called for them, and were on their way back to the hotel when LaF nudged Laura.

“So, what do you think?” they asked and Laura just smiled back.

“He’s cool.” The young soon-to-be journalist just stared out of the window, watching all the buildings pass by, “I hope he stays that way.”

 

 

…

 

Boston, MA

Weverton Financial

December 2nd, 2013

2:33 p.m.

 

 

It’s been a little over a month that Harvey has been in contact with his biological teenage daughter. No, he never imagined that he’d ever say that. Either way, Harvey was surprisingly content with this new development as Laura’s companionship proved to be very entertaining.

Their conversations were very light-hearted and were never really about anything that crossed boundaries. It was very clear that they would both have to learn to be around one another before any closer relationship, akin to a regular father and daughter, would be. For now, they were father and daughter…but they weren’t calling each other that.

“So, who is she to you?” Mike asked his mentor as they sat in the backseat of a cab, driving around Boston’s busy afternoon streets.

“She’s Laura,” Harvey said, looking at his reflection on his phone screen, “the girl who was born after I knocked up my friend.” Mike scoffed at his definition.

“That’s a mouthful of an intro.” The junior told him.

The pair of attorneys were in Boston on some personal business. Last week Sherman Hollis had called Harvey, in a saddened state, saying that Laura’s private school was shaking them down for her tuition payments, that were due at the end of October. Laura was currently attending The Cambridge School of Weston, which had a whopping tuition cost set at $49,400. David had already refused the School’s calls, so their last resort was to contact the Hollis family. The school took pity on Laura’s situation, considering she is one of their top honours’ students (basically, if the honours program had another honours program, she’d be in it). The financial officer was willing to give the Hollis family some leeway, and gave them a new deadline, which was the end of this week. Sherman was distraught because he couldn’t get the loan by the new deadline. The entire amount was to be paid in full or else Laura wouldn’t be able to continue in her last year of study.

“That’s stupid,” Mike said after Harvey explained their reason for being in Boston, “She’s been doing well, winning them state championships for the debate team, choir, soccer…” Mike squinted his eyes at the long list of activities that Laura had partaken in during her academic career with The Cambridge School of Weston. “dang, why is she in so many things?”

“She thinks all of this crap is going to get her an early admittance.” Harvey answered, with a light chuckle. “I mean she’s not wrong…but her list _is_ rather extensive.”

“I’ll say,” Mike continued. He was always a bright kid, but all he remembered from high school was trying not to get caught with snacks at his desk. “Anyway, like I said; it’s stupid. They should’ve given her a free ride.”

Harvey shook his head, “Private school isn’t like that, Mike.”

“So, you’re gonna drop $49,400?” Mike inquired. Harvey was quick to dismiss that.

“Woah, no.” he exaggerated his point by aggressively wincing and shaking his head. “That’s not my issue.”

“Then why are we here?” he asked, more confused than he originally was. They pulled up to a very large building, in Boston’s core. It was daunting to look at; it had 20 floors, black mirrored panels with black corrugated steel. “Damn.” Harvey nodded in agreement.

Without a word, the older lawyer tossed a few bills at the driver and got out as quickly as possible. Mike scrambled to follow, muttering a quick “thank you” to the driver and also got out as fast as he could.

Harvey was already halfway up the steps when Mike finally got out of the cab. He followed close behind the older lawyer, making awkward eye contact with everyone who watched them walk by. Because Mike still didn’t know why they were here, in this building. All the junior lawyer could do was tug on his collar or suit jacket while Harvey did all the talking.

“My name is Harvey Specter, and I’m here to see Mr. David Branis.” He told the young man, working the front desk. He nodded and began to aggressively type on his keyboard. After about forty-five seconds, he began to speak again.

“He just finished a meeting,” the front desk worker informed him, “I’ll call for someone to get you, Mr. Specter.” With a smile, he gestured to a few loveseats at the centre of the lobby. Harvey nodded toward the young man and went to sit. Mike followed blindly, still utterly confused. Once they were both seated, Harvey took out his phone to read the New York Times online. Mike just twiddled with his thumbs, watching the office crowd walk past, going about their regular routines.

“So…” the junior began, “Is this Branis guy an informant for our breach case?” the older lawyer shook his head, not bothering to make eye contact with his colleague.

“David Branis is Laura’s fake dad, Mike.” Harvey told him with a stone-cold expression.

“Oh.” Was Mike’s only reply, “That makes more sense.”

 

…

 

After about ten more minutes of waiting, David Branis had actually ventured to the main floor to greet his guests, himself. He was dressed in a black suit with a blue tie. His glasses kind of made him look like Clark Kent; he even had the black hair to complete the cosplay. Mike was delighted to finally see where this meeting was headed while Harvey just held his own, at a distance.

Harvey didn’t hate David, in college. In fact, they were in the same group of friends, during his first year of law school. David was always kind and had a lovely smile on his face at all times. His charm rubbed off on everyone…especially Carol. She was enamoured with him from the start; always trying to impress him while wearing the best outfits that she had whenever they had get-togethers. Harvey and David weren’t best of friends, but they enjoyed one another’s company. Their dynamic never changed after Carol and David started going out, even though Harvey thought it would. Everyone in their year knew that Harvey and Carol were friends with benefits; there were no secrets.

So why did Harvey feel so negatively now?

“Harv. Long time no see.” The tall dark-haired man said, leading Harvey into his office. The office was on the 15th floor of the building, overlooking most of the city. Boston Harbour was a clear view, on the Horizon. Harvey took a seat, across from David’s desk, waiting for him to also sit down. Looking around the office, the lawyer found many photos of Carol and David decorating the walls and the coffee table. Wedding photos, vacation photos, even photos that Harvey recognized from college.

“No photos of Laura?” Harvey asked, skeptical of how David would react. The insurance broker looked up from his desk to meet Harvey’s gaze and he didn’t falter. Instead David just shrugged as he sat down, fiddling with decorations from Hawaii. Harvey saw right through this play. “You knew the whole time, didn’t you Branis?” with an emotionless chuckle, David took off his glasses and began to clean them with his purple pocket square.

“Of course, I did.” David said, in an eerily sort of tenderness. “Laura didn’t look a thing like me. Who did she look like? The guy who was boning my girlfriend in college.” Harvey sat back in his seat, baffled at the responses he was getting. Branis seemed so calm about this whole thing. Knowing how worried Laura was, Harvey was beginning to get angry.

Despite how David was ruining Laura’s life, by not paying for her high school fees, Harvey maintained his cool composure. “Why didn’t you say anything?” was his only inquiry.

“I did a few times.” David explained, carefully, “Carol kept insisting: ‘hon, blonde is a recessive gene’, and I was the fool who believed her.” He finished cleaning his glasses and placed them back on his face. He looked a little distraught after bringing up Carol’s name and Harvey did feel sympathy at that; Carol was his wife after all. David didn’t ruin that. “But it’s not even that; I had to stay. If I left, I would’ve been the asshole who dipped on his family without any proof. I felt bad, the whole time. Laura’s always been such a sweet kid but I knew, Harv. I couldn’t give in to a lie, but I had to pretend. When she got older, she took it as me being distant and started to act out. I let it Harv; I let her hate me. And fuck, I felt terrible. I even felt terrible after the liver thing came back negative.” David took a breath, giving himself time to compose. Harvey believed every word of his testimony because this was a hard situation. Knowing the kid in your house wasn’t yours; that’s rough for anyone.

“I’m sorry.” Harvey told him, putting his left hand on David’s desk. Nodding, the insurance broker placed his hand on top of Harvey’s; accepting the sympathy.

After a touching moment, David smiled. “But then I went to check up on Laura, a few weeks ago and she said she found her real dad. A Harvey Specter. It all made sense. You and Carol had been hookin’ up right until December, when I asked her out.” He began to laugh manically, throwing all care to the wind. This is the part Harvey was expecting. “That’s why she was so insistent on sleepin’ with me right away; she was trying to keep it a secret.”

Harvey shook his head; ignoring half of that little speech and choosing to focus on one thing that David had said, earlier. “So, you’re still the idiot then – You could’ve walked out, because of your suspicion.”

“And what? Look like a jackass? Harvey, Carol never cheated, never strayed; I had no proof that Laura wasn’t mine. If I left, that was gonna be a chunk of money out the goddamn window. Not to mention half the town would be up my ass. Everyone loved Carol and Laura.”

Harvey contemplated his dilemma and still didn’t fully understand. “And what about now?”

“Well, the doctors did it for me, Harv.” David said all too happily, “They did a test for my liver dysfunction, and Laura wasn’t a match.” The dark-haired man began to clap very obnoxiously. Seriously; Harvey thought this goon belonged on _Maury_. “The jig was up, Harv! It was my time.”

“Okay, I get it.” Harvey lied, just to get the ball rolling. “But you froze her out of everything?” He inquired, “Right away? Just like that? Did you not care for her at all?” Suddenly, David became rather cross. He leaned over his desk in order to intimidate Harvey with his glare.

“Don’t go putting words in my mouth, Harvey – you _know_ how I don’t like that.”

“Well why don’t you put some of your words out in the open then?” the blonde contested. He wanted to get David riled up before his big move. Poor David was buying into it. Had Mike been in the room, he would’ve rolled his eyes.

David’s glare did not falter. “The state already established – _science_ – had already established that she isn’t mine. What more do you want?” Harvey smirked.

“Pay for her school.” Harvey growled.

A large scoff escaped David as he slumped back into his chair with his arms crossed. “I ain’t paying for her university.” Branis stated, shaking his head.

“No, idiot; her private school. You know? Her current high school?” Harvey said, “The one that she needs to graduate from, so that she can move on to the school that _I’m_ supposed to be paying for?”

“She’s not my kid, Harvey. Paternity is established.” As David said this, Harvey smirked.

_Paternity_ was the word he was waiting for.

“Voluntarily assumed paternity, Branis.”

“What the fuck are you talking about Harv?”

“In Massachusetts, and other states, there’s a thing called ‘voluntarily assumed paternity’.” Harvey explained very indignantly. “It’s paternity that is assumed. Want me to break it down? There are a variety of ways that paternity can be voluntarily assumed, so I’ll give you the ways in which you qualify as a paternal figure for Laura. 1) The father attempts to marry the mother after the child is born or conceived. 2) The father marries the mother after the child is born and agrees to have his name on the birth certificate or agrees to support the child. And 3) The father welcomes the child into his home and openly holds the child out as his own. Since Laura is only 17, she’ll be considered as a candidate for support fees, which you had originally planned to pay. I told you that you were an idiot to stay, Branis. I may be the behind the scenes guy, but you? Branis, you were in front of the camera, the entire 17 years.” At Harvey’s words, David was speechless. He didn’t know that assumed parenthood was anything that could get you in trouble. He thought he was already out of the woods with all this fake daughter nonsense. Harvey watched as Branis looked at his hands and bit the inside of his cheek, in deep concentration. The blonde lawyer smirked and relaxed his posture; he had David right where he wanted him.

After a beat of silence, David finally spoke up.

“So, you gonna take me to court Harv? That’s what you want?” as much as Harvey really wanted to watch a state judge rip his college colleague to shreds, he knew it would be better that Laura never had to deal with him ever again.

“I will if you don’t continue to support her, like you agreed to originally.” The lawyer threatened, “I’m not asking you for her tuition or her share of a life insurance policy. I’m asking you to just support her until she turns 18, as originally agreed, between you and Carol, for the benefit of the assumed child you both shared!” bringing up Carol’s responsibility, in accordance with his own, was a very dirty trick; Harvey was aware of that. But it needed to be done for Laura’s sake.

“If I start paying again, I don’t have to deal with anything else?” David asked him, in a timid voice. Harvey folded his arms over his chest and gave the insurance broker a warm, yet shit-eating, smile.

Leaning in closer, Harvey winked and said “Davey…If you pay up until next August, you’ll never see this pretty blonde face, in any form, ever again.” 


End file.
